ethanbaima's Reviews (56)

The Awakening

Kate Chopin

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Station Eleven

Emily St. John Mandel

4.25

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really cannot recommend this book enough. This was such a refreshing, skillful take on dystopia. And I love that the book billed so heavily as dystopian can find time to show who people were before the disaster, it humanizes the entire experience so much

Ice Planet Barbarians

Ruby Dixon

2.0

emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

There was such a weird fascination with how lumpy his dick was, that was weird

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

Yukio Mishima

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

HOLY FUCK

Convenience Store Woman

Sayaka Murata

3.0

lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was enjoyable, this was my quick airport read and I was able to breeze through it in a day. For that purpose I found it to be perfect; lighthearted yet heavy, fun all throughout, with lovably hate-able characters. For other purposes I think I would find this book lacking, as it never surprised me or gave me something to really think about. Because of how quickly I rushed through this I might be underselling it or missing something, but I felt it to be a good, but somewhat lacking experience.

Ham on Rye

Charles Bukowski

3.5

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems

Fernando Pessoa

3.25

inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Because of the heteronyms used by Pessoa, there's a wide variety of styles. I liked some way more than others, like how I really enjoyed Alvaro Campos but didn't like Ricardo Reis's poetry, despite it all really being the same person.